Fight for Survival
by TeenWolfFantasy98
Summary: My friends Samantha(Sam), Ariel, Brooke, Alex, my two brothers Brian and Mark, are running for our lives. We don't know where to go or what to do, but somehow we'll have to train ourselves for what is to come. This, is our fight for survival. *Rating may change to M later on*
1. Chapter 1

**I only own my own Oc's and plot. **

"Oh my god." Samantha says as she looks out her bedroom window. She grabs her phone and runs upstairs.

"MOM! DAD! HUNTER!" She yells, dialing Ariel's cell. She looks up as she puts the phone to her ear. Her mom comes running out of their bedroom frantically. She has a bite mark on her arm and is trying to get Samantha out of the house before "it" attacks her.

"Samantha…" She says with a shortness of breath.

"What happened mom? Where's dad? Hunter?" Sam asks as the phone rings on Ariel's end, but no answer. She hangs up and starts dialing again.

"I was bitten. By your dad. He's one of them. I don't know where Hunter or the other two are. Go find them and STAY TOGETHER!" She says, pushing Samantha out the front door right as her dad, now a walker, comes out of the bedroom. Her mom grabs a knife and stabs him in the head and again in the neck. Samantha watches as her mom then takes the knife to herself.

"NOOOOO!" Samantha screams as she runs to her mom's side.

"I did this for you, Samantha. Now go. Find your friends and remaining family, if there is any. Go get away. You've seen the show. You know how to fight. Go. Before it's too late."

"That was a show, mom. This is real life. The show they aren't actual walkers. Now its actually happening. There's no way to fight it." Samantha says, holding her mom in her arms.

"Yes, there is. You go find your friends right now. Get in a group and go somewhere safe. Travel across the country if you must. Just go." Her mom says as she takes her last breath. Hunter and the two younger ones walk in. Hunter holds them back from seeing this horrible scene. Samantha gets up and looks at Hunter.

'We don't have much time. We need to go, now. Get them some clothes and grab as much guns and amo as you can carry. Grab some clothes for yourself and grab your phone. Be careful. I'll meet you in the barn." Samantha says taking a deep breath. Hunter nods and starts to pack.

Samantha grabs the car keys, some clothes, and a few knives from the kitchen. She then runs outside to the barn to get the cars started. Hunter is only a few seconds behind her.

"Sam, I'll take the van. You take the pickup. I'll also take the kids. Stay together. Call Ariel, and other friends and see if they're all okay. I'm going to call some family to see if anyone is still alive." Hunter says, loading the kids in the car and everything that he had grabbed.

"Okay. Let's go." Samantha says as she gets in the car and dials Ariel again.


	2. Chapter 2

**I only own my own OC's and the plot.**

"Hey Samantha. Is everything okay over there? Mom and dad aren't picking up their phones and Casey and Hannah are in town at a friends house and I cant get ahold of any family members and there's walkers everywhere. I'm staying hidden in my basement but they're everywhere." Ariel says.

"My parents are dead." Samantha says, trying to stay concentrated.

"What about Hunter? And the other two?"

"Hunter and the other two are right behind me in the van. We're on our way over there. Gather a few things, pack light. We're coming. I'm going to call Ashley and see if she's there, too. Call Hannah and Casey. Tell them to get over to Ashley's and that we'll be there soon. Go now. Be there in 5 minutes." Samantha explains, running through a plan in her head of how this will all work.

"Call me when you're coming down the road. I'll sprint out through the yard and jump into the pickup."

"I will. Be safe."

"You too." Samantha says as she hangs up the phone and dials me.

"Come on, Ashley. Answer your damn phone. Come on…answer."

"SAMANTHA!" I scream frantically into the phone.

"Okay. What's going on there?" Sam asks me, before giving me the plan.

"Well…I can't get ahold of my parents. Last I talked to them, they were on some island."

"When was that?"

"Yesterday."

"What about your brothers, Brian and Mark?"

"Brian is on his way here right now. Mark is with me, too. I'm trying to stay calm for Mark but I'm FREAKING OUT HERE! Help me, please."

"Okay, okay. Calm down. Here's what we're going to do. I called Ariel. She's getting packed up right now. Brian is picking up Hannah and Casey will be over at your house in a few minutes. Be watching for them. I've got Hunter and my brother and sister with me. I'm driving the pick up and Hunter has the van. We packed light, you do the same. Grab some clothes, and guns and amo. Grab some food, as well. We'll be in town in about 10 minutes. I'm pulling into Ariel's driveway right now. Be ready to go. Get in your dad's suburban and wait in the garage once Hannah, Casey, and Brian get there. I'll call you when I'm pulling up and you back out and we'll meet you out front."

"Okay. Samantha, they're everywhere."

"I know. That's why you need to watch for Hannah and Casey. They'll jump into the suburban with you and well go."

"Go where? There is no where, Samantha. Look around. Everything's destroyed. The whole world is in ruins." I say, starting to fall apart. I grab Mark and pull him in close to me.

"Mark, look at me. We're going to be ok. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Do as I say, and we'll be just fine." I say to mark, as he nods.

"Where are mommy and daddy, Ash?" He says. It broke my heart. I wanted to believe they're safe on that island. My dad will take care of my mom and help others that need it. I know he will. I believe they're still alive. How do you tell a 6 year old that mommy and daddy aren't coming back home for a long time?

"Sam, I better go. Call me when your outside and we'll meet you out front."

"Okay. Be careful." She says as I hang up the phone. I turn to Mark.

"Well buddy, remember that trip they went on a few weeks ago?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, they'll be on that trip for a long time. We'll see them soon. I promise you that we'll find them and we'll see them soon. Do you trust me?" I say, bending down so I'm eye level with him. He shakes his head yes and I take his hand.

"Are you ready? I want you to keep ahold of my hand and run, alright?" I say to Mark, as he shakes his head yes. We open the door and run to the garage.


	3. Chapter 3

"Mark, get into the car." I say to him as I look back at the house through the garage windows. I see Brian pull up out front. I wave him up, as I start to realize that the walkers are coming to the garage. I decide to stop Brian. I baracade the garage door and get into the car. I start the car and knowing I only had a few minutes to get out of there. I take a deep breath and open the back garage door. I dial Brian.

"Brian, We'll pull up out front. Hurry." I say to him as he says ok and gathers the kids and their things as well as his own. I pull up out front as he jumps in the passenger seat next to me and Hannah and Casey jump in the back with Mark.

"GO!" Brian says, as the walkers start to attack the car.

"Brian, call Sam. Tell her to meet us at Wal-Mart." I say, handing him my phone.

"Hey Ashley. Where you at?"

"It's Brian. Meet us at Wal-Mart." We need to get supplies…" He says and Sam interrupts.

"We can't stop. We have to move." Brian looks at me and hands me the phone.

"Sam, we need to stop. We'll be out of food and camping supplies and amo if we don't stop right here in town."

"Ashley, we can't waste time. We need to go, and now."

"SAM! NO!" I say, angrily handing the phone to Brian.

"Ashley is right, Sam. We have to. There's too many of us to get by on what we have." Brian says. There was a long pause and Sam sighed.

"Alright. Be there in 5." She says hanging up.

"Brian…I need you to watch them as I go fill up these duffel bags." I say, looking at him very sternly. He shakes his head yes.

"Bubba…and my mom. We need to get them."

"Where are they?" I ask, looking concerned.

"In Grand Forks, with my dad." He says. I give him a funky look.

"With…you dad?" I repeat, sounding surprised.

"Yes. Something came up and they had to go sign papers at the court." He says, sighing.

"What about Kaitlyn?" I say, forgetting that they never really had a good relationship.

"I'm not sure." He says. I could tell he was upset that he didn't know where she was.

"Let's al just go in." I say, taking Mark in my arms.

"I'll grab the duffel bags." Brian says, opening the back door.

"We have to hurry!" I say, grabbing the 3 kids and running to the door, Brian right behind me.

"It's locked." I say, my voice trembling.


	4. Chapter 4

** I only own my own OC's and the plot.**

"The back door. Let's go." Brian says, leading the way.

"Hannah and Casey, stay quiet, and keep Mark quiet, too." I say. They shake their heads in agreement. We get to the back and manage to get the back door open.

'WAIT!" I meant to whisper, but came out as a scream. Brian turns around and gives me a "what the hell have you done" look. We see walkers start coming from every angle.

"GO GO GO!" Brian says, letting us in first and then following us closely behind.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, ASHLEY!" He says, infuriated.

"HEY NOW! YOU WERE THE ONE ABOUT TO JUST WALK IN WITHOUT EVEN CONSIDERING ANY TRAPS THAT MAY BE HERE. HELLO?! THERE'S OBVIOUSLY PEOPLE HIDING HERE AND IT WAS PRETTY EASY TO GET IN THIS DOOR! HOW DIDN'T YOU THINK ABOUT THE POSSIBLE DANGERS OF WALKING IN BLINDLY?! MR. I'M SO SMART AND HAVE A PLAN FOR EVERYTHING…" I scream back at him. We both take a deep breath and look at the kids. They're looking at us like we're crazy. We continue on without another word being said. My phone starts to ring. It's Ariel.

"Hello?"

"Where are you? Wal-Mart is surrounded by walkers."

"We got in through the back, but that's full of walkers too. Can you send Sam in? We could use the extra pair of hands…"

"Let me know when you're ready to go. We'll draw them away from the door and you can run to your car." Ariel says.

"Sounds good." I say. I hang up the phone, and Brian continues on. We walk through different barricades and traps, just to simply get to the food section of the store. We all take a bag and go pick an aisle. Hannah takes 2 bags with Casey and Hannah, while Brian and myself go down 2 aisles.

I start grabbing things like cans of soup and water. I hear Brian grabbing bags of something, but wasn't sure what. I hear Hannah and Casey scream.

"BRIAN!" Hannah screams. Brian and I take what we have and run to her. We freeze as they draw a few guns on us. There's a group of people that had grabbed them by the arms.

"LET THEM GO!" I say sternly. They all look at me and laugh.

"How do we know they're not one of them?" The one man, who was quite tall, had put a knife to Casey's throat.

"NO! Please don't hurt them, please. They're my family. They're all I have. Please…" I say, taking a few slow steps closer to them. Brian had disappeared behind be somehow and managed to get behind the group. I see him sneaking up behind them as I continue to convince them to let them go.

"Please…they're just kids." I say, as Brian smacks one of them in the back of the head with his gun.


	5. Chapter 5

**I only own my own OC's and the plot.**

"Continue to gather as much food and drinks as you can. Hide at the end of these aisles. We'll come find you when we're done. Now go!" I say, joining Brian in the fight.

I was taking a few pretty good hits, but I refused to stop defending those kids and Brian. I kept at it, only to find Samantha joined in as well. We finally got them to give up, but it took a few big hits and blood to get there.

"Look, we aren't here to harm anyone. You brought that on yourselves. We just needed some supplies. That's all." Brian explains, as I run up and down the aisles looking for the kids.

"The government is coming, you know. They're going to help us. We know they will." One man says. He was taller, but didn't look older than 19. We all laugh at them.

"Ha. You guys are really funny. The government isn't coming. Haven't you gotten the memo yet? It's every man for himself now." Samantha says, grabbing one of the full duffel bags.

"They'll come to help us." Another man said, this time he was older.

"NO ONE IS COMING, OKAY? SCREW ALL OF YOU! You're on your own." Samantha says, as we all grab a bag and walk out. I dial Ariel.

"We're at the back. Hurry up." I say. We hear the car horn honking and a car engine. We hear screaming. We open the door and we see the walkers retreating to the car. We take a run for it.

Brian took the lead, the kids in the middle and I was behind them. Samantha jumped in her truck, with Hunter, Jayce, and Ty close behind in the van, while Hannah, Casey, Mark, Brian, and myself jumped into the suburban. We watched to make sure that Samantha got into the truck okay.

"Where did Ariel find that car?" I ask, looking at it strangely.

"She must've taken it from the parking lot here." Brian says, as we watch the car continue to roll down the hill and the walkers following it. Ariel comes running up into the parking lot past some walkers, who then started following her. She jumps into the Pickup that Samantha was driving. We all take one last look back at the only thing we had ever known, and make our way to Grand Forks.


	6. Chapter 6

**I only own my own OC's and the plot.**

"We need to stop at Cabella's for some gear…" I say to Samantha on the phone. This time it was Brian driving.

"I know. What all do we have?" Samantha asks as I think back to everything we got.

"We have a few knives, 2 machetes, and 6 or 7 guns. We need the ammo though. We don't have much of that."

"Okay. Do we have any camping supplies, or winter gear, or anything like that?" Samantha asks, as we start pulling into Grand Forks.

"We should grab blankets, tents, and clothes." Brian suggests. I look at him and shake my head in agreement.

"We'll meet you at Cabella's." Samantha says hanging up the phone. Reality starts to hit me and I turn my head away from Brian and let a few tears fall. I quickly wipe them away and turn back to face the front.

"Hey, sis. You okay?" Brian asks, concerned. Dang, he must've seen me crying. I wasn't sure how to answer. I didn't know if I should lie or tell the truth. I took a deep breath and paused.

"I will be. Eventually." I say to him, not making eye contact.

"It'll be okay." He says, taking my hand as a comfort type situation.

I wish my parents were here. My dad would know what to do. I really need my dad. I hope they're on an island safely somewhere. I don't know how I would ever explain to Mark that mom and dad aren't ever coming home. Just the thought made me cringe. I had to keep thinking straight. For my sanity, and for Mark. I couldn't lose my cool. I had to be strong enough for both of us. I just had to.

"Where did you say your mom and bubba were?" I ask as we pass what used to be down town Grand Forks.

"Maybe at my dad's house. I…I don't know where else they would be. My dad would've taken them back and protected them as much as possible. I know he would." Brian explains, as I call Samantha, who is leading, my car in the middle, and Hunter following behind me.

"We need to go to Brian's dad's house. He thinks his mom and bubba will be there. He'll tell you where to go." I say to her, handing Brian the phone.

"Turn up here at the bridge." He instructs, as she gets ready to turn. Being in town was a major risk, but we had to do what we had to do. We decided to take that risk, and continue on to his dad's house.

"Go up 3 blocks and take a left. Then go one block and take a right." Brian explains, and we do so.

"Now, go down 5 houses and we're here. I'm going to run in. You guys need to back me up. I don't know if anyone is here or if there's walkers in there. Just back me up. We pull the suburban into the garage with the kids. Hunter stays back with the kids, as Ariel, Brian, and Samantha walk into the house.

"Shhhh… I hear something." Brian says as we walk quietly through the kitchen of the house.

"Brian?" We heard a woman's voice say.

"Mom?" Brian says as he turns around.


	7. Chapter 7

**I only own my own OC's and the plot.**

We hear gunshots outside. Brian takes his mom's hand and I grab bubba. We exchange looks and start walking.

"We need to go. Right now." As we walk out the same door we came in. Walkers started surrounding us. It sounded like a gun show as we all took our shots as we ran to the garage.

"Mom get in!" Brian says as we all jump into the suburban. We met Samantha and Hunter's cars in the front as we headed to Cabella's.

"Where's dad?" Brian asks.

"Daddy go bye-bye." Bubba says.

"What is he talking about? Please tell me it isn't what I think it is? Please, mom…" He said, his voice trailing off, sounding angry.

"He was bitten. I had to sh…shoot him." She says, taking a deep breath.

"Laura, are you guys bitten at all?" I ask, turning around to her.

"No no. We're fine. Only because Brian's dad took the bite for us. Kaitlyn…she's gone, too." I could see the pain in Laura's eyes as well as Brian's. We pull into Cabella's.

"Brian, you need to stay here with your mom and the kids. Hunter is staying in the van with the kids behind you. Samantha, Ariel, and I are going in."

"Why bother? It looks ransacked already." He says, still angry at the news of his dad and sister.

"Because we need to or we won't survive." I say as I open the door and get out. Hunter and Brian take off and drive around the parking lot to avoid the walkers attacking the cars. I meet up with Ariel and Samantha at the doors.

"Grab what we can find, including bags we can fill. We need clothes, camping gear, food, hunting gear, and ammo." Samantha says as we walk in to the remains of Cabella's. I grab a big bag and take a left, while Ariel goes straight and Samantha goes right. I grab clothes of all sizes, along with the few remaining boxes of ammo and I throw some guns on my shoulders.

"ASHLEY! ARIEL!" Samantha says to us as she points to a big door in the back. We finish grabbing what's left from the shelves and walk over to it. I see something out of the corner of my eyes. I turn to my left and draw my gun.

"Brooke?" Ariel says, as I put my gun down and take a deep breath.

"I almost shot you. Jesus child that wasn't funny!" I say, giving her a big hug.

"Are you alone?" Samantha asks.

"No. I've got Eric, Brandi, and Dylan with me. We couldn't get to Brittany or Brianna. It's just us 3. What about you?" She says, as Samantha tries to get the big door open.

"I've got Brian, Hannah, Casey, Laura, Mark, and bubba (Aiden) in my car. Samantha has Ariel, and Hunter has Jayce and Ty. We can fit 3 of you in the van, and one in the truck." Ariel explains. They all looked hopeful.

"GOT IT!" Samantha says, pulling the giant metal door open.


	8. Chapter 8

**I only own my own OC's and the plot.**

There were guns, plenty of ammo, food, water, hunting gear, winter gear, and best of all, camping gear. Just what we needed to help us last.

"How long you think this will last us?" I ask.

"Maybe a month or two." Samantha says handing us things to carry.

"We'll collect as we go, too." I say. With our hands, arms, and shoulders full of bags and guns, we walk back out to the front. For once, it was clear of walkers. We hear Brian and Hunter pulling up. Samantha loads the truck that Laura took over temporarily. We split the load into the 3 vehicles.

"My suburban is full. So, Brandi and Brooke can ride in the van with Hunter, Jayce, and Ty. Dylan and Eric can ride with Ariel and Samantha." I say. We all get in the vehicles and start heading down south.

"Why are we heading down south?" Brooke asks.

"I'm not sure, really. They have good sources down there. There's really no place that can be considered safe, but we'll keep moving of we have to." Hunter says.

"I think we should find a nice, big farm house. That'll probably be our safest bet, mainly since its out in the country, there's really no people around to be walkers. We'll always have to have someone or a few of us on duty, though." Brian says. I shake my head, and look out the window.

"Laura, what do you think?" I turn around to face her.

"I don't know really. I need to learn, though. I don't know how to fight. I don't have the agility that all of you kids do." She says. I look at Brian.

'We'll teach you. We have to teach the kids, too. Ashley has some to learn." Brian says. I scowl and correct what he just said.

"I can run faster than you think. I can shoot, load, and aim a gun. I can help gather resources while still defending myself. I'm not totally clueless, you know." I say, kind of pissed off that he was underestimating me.

"Sam knows what she's doing, so does Ariel. I've been training myself for this for a while. What have you been doing to prepare? You don't hunt. You don't so sports. How are you so prepared?" He says, raising his voice.

"I was in track for 3 years, thank you very much. My dad took me hunting and would teach me as we would go." I say, ready to cry. I held it in, because I didn't want them to see how weak I really was.

"I'm sorry. I never meant for it to become a yelling match here. I didn't mean to offend you, either. It never hurts to train and learn more though, does it?" He says, looking me in the eyes.

"No, it doesn't hurt anything. I'm not going to be the weak link though. I refuse to be the weak link in this group. I will pull my weight to be here." I say.

"What do we do about the kids?" Laura asks from the backseat of the suburban.

"We take it one day at a time." Brian says not looking very confident.


	9. Chapter 9

**I only own my own OC's and plot.**

"Are we going to stop in Minneapolis at all?" I ask Samantha on the phone.

"I don't know. That's pretty risky." She says. I could tell she was thinking it wasn't a very good or smart idea.

"What about Ariel's aunt Kim's house?" I ask. I could hear Ariel start talking and giving her opinion.

"We could try. She lives pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I think we'd be safe there for the night." Ariel says. Samantha then agrees.

"Okay. We're going to pull over and Ariel is going to drive. It'll be easier than to have her explain to us where to go." Samantha says starting to slow down. We hung up the phone as Ariel and Samantha exchanged seats.

At this point, we're only a few hours from her aunt Kim's house. Maybe we should load up the horses and all the riding gear and hook the trailer up to the pickup. I picked up the phone, and then decided to wait until we got there.

The few hours seemed to drag on and on, but we finally made it! As we were pulling in, it looked pretty clear which was a good start to this. We all parked the vehicles and jumped out. We made sure to keep the kids quiet until we were inside.

Ariel, Samantha, and Hunter all approach the house with caution. Brian keeps me, the kids, and his mom together to watch for walkers. Ariel continues in the house with Hunter behind. Samantha decides to wait out in front of the door to help Ariel of Brian if needed. It was only a few minutes before Ariel came out after searching the house and said it was clear. We all grab a gun and walk into the house.

"So, I was thinking…" I say, my voice trailing off. Ariel and Samantha both give me a stern look.

"What now?" Brian says, sounding annoyed with all my suggestions and ideas.

"We could use the horses." I say, making it short.

"That's actually a good idea, Ash. How are we supposed to take them with us though? We already have a lot with us…I just don't see it happening." Ariel says.

"The horse trailer. We can hook it up to Sam's pickup." I say. They all look at each other and acknowledge me.

"Ok. Let's go do that right now." Samantha says. Brian, Samantha, Hunter, and Ariel all head out. Laura and I start cooking dinner in the kitchen. The kids are watching a movie in the next room over.

"Thank you, Ashley." Laura says.

"What for?" I say, turning around.

"For helping Brian, me, and Aiden." She says, smiling.

"No problem. Brian has always done so much for me, and it was important to him to at least check and see if you were ok." I explained with a smile on my face. She smiled, and we continued on making supper.


	10. Chapter 10

**I only own my OC's and the plot.**

"We need to plan." Samantha says when everyone is sitting down at the table.

"Yes, we do. I think we should stay here for a few days just to be safe and get a plan together." Ariel says.

"Agreed." I say. We all continue eating with an awkward silence.

"So, where are we headed?" Brooke asks.

"Well...maybe Atlanta, or farther south." I say, as Samantha interrupts.

"We need to see if we can find a more permanent solution, because right now, there isn't one. Not anytime soon, anyways." Samantha says.

"In case you haven't notices Sam...THE WORLD HAS ENDED, OKAY? WE'RE THE ONLY ONES LEFT. LOOK AROUND. THERE'S NO PLACE THAT IS GOING TO BE SAFE, OKAY?" I say, getting up and stomping out the front door. Ariel gets up to follow, but Brian stops her.

"Let go of me." Ariel says, getting up.

"She just needs some fresh air." Laura says.

"She doesn't have anything to defend herself with." Ariel says.

"She'll be fine. There aren't any walkers around here right now. I'm sure she'll be fine. She probably went out to go for a ride on one of the horses." Brian says, helping his mom clear the table. Everyone went into the living room to watch some TV, and Ariel goes out to the barn.

"I really wish you were here, mom and dad." I say, as I'm putting the horse into a canter. I'm crying, and night is starting to fall. I get the horse into a gallop and we head back. My horse starts getting a little uneasy and jumpy.

"Whoa, easy girl." I say, patting her neck. She seemed to calm down a little bit and we continued through the woods. Only about 5 minutes later, walkers start coming from every direction. I can see the lights of the house. I decide to gallop out into the field to draw them away from the house. But before I do, I screamed, knowing that they'd hear me inside.

"What was that?" Brooke asks.

"ASH!" Brian says, running out the door with Ariel and Samantha behind.


	11. Chapter 11

**I only own my OC's and the plot.**

I saw the door swing open and I continued through the empty field.

"This better work!" I say, chucking a knife at the deer, hoping to hit it so I could get away from the walkers to get everyone else. I took a deep breathe and threw the knife. Deer down! I smile, and get the horse going to the house. I meet Brian and the other two halfway back through the yard.

"We need to go. NOW!" I say, jumping off the horse. Ariel jumps on Belle, the horse, and gets to the barn to load the horses into the trailer. Samantha follows behind her and Brian is behind me. We walk into the house abruptly.

"Pack everything up. We have to leave." Brian says. Everyone starts moving about grabbing everything we already had, and more.

"Where's Mark?" I say, worried.

"Right here, sissy." Mark says, holing his little backpack. I take him by the hand and pull him in tightly for a hug. With everyone moving around so quickly, he must have gotten lost in the business of us all.

"Is everyone ready?" Hunter asks. We all head out the door, Brian in front and Hunter in the back. Ariel was just pulling the truck from the barn when we were starting to be attacked by walkers.

"RUN!" I say, as we all take off for the cars that were only a few yards away. We make it half way to the cars, and I look behind me. Hunter had thrown his bag down for me to grab, and looked at me.

"GO!" He said, as walkers surround him. I turn my head back to the cars as everything seemed to happen in slow motion. We all made it to the cars. Well, most of us did, anyways. Hunter is gone, and so is Derrick. They purposely died for us to get to the cars. It was sad, but no one really had much time to think about it.

"I'm so sorry, Samantha." Ariel says, patting Samantha on the back.

"Where's Eric?" Brandi asked, looking around. We all just shook our heads and the car became silent. We continued to drive through the night as I made a list of who was still here, and their jobs to this group. I also put who was in charge for the younger ones.

"Laura?" I say, nudging her slightly.

"Yes?" She says, quietly as she readjusts her arm that Aiden was sleeping on.

"Would you mind if I put you with the younger ones? You have that motherly instinct and we'll teach you to defend yourself while around the kids."

"Sure." She says with a smile. I think she was relieved to know that I trust her enough to put her in charge of the younger ones.

"Brian, you doing okay?" I ask, seeing that he's pretty tired.

"I'm fine." He says, looking at me.

"You're a bad liar kid." I say, playfully shoving him. I smile and call over to Ariel's car in front of us.


	12. Chapter 12

**I only own my OC's and the plot.**

When I woke up, we were stopped. I scrable to wake up, and find out what I missed.

"You were really tired, so I figured I would let you sleep." Brian says, handing me a glass of water.

"Where are we? Where is everyone?" I ask, looking around.

"We're in a hotel." Brian explains.

"WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY?" I say, jumping out of the bed, suddenly wondering why he was in my room instead of Ariel or Samantha.

"It's safe, trust me." He says calmingly.

"Wait, what are you doing here?" I ask, confused.

"Everyone else went to get some sleep, except my mom. She's with the kids next door, and I figured I would let everyone else sleep while I stayed awake." He explains, as I see Laura through the door that joined our rooms with the kids, and Samantha and Ariel on the floor of this room.

"You need sleep, Brian." I say insisting that he get some sleep.

"I'm fine. I want to make sure everyone is okay and together. I've taken on that responsibility now." He says, sitting next to me on the bed. I start to cry.

"Please don't cry sis." Brian says, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"We have nowhere to go. Our families are either dead, or running to places we don't know of. We're taking on this huge responsibility of everyone and everything and there just isn't a point to it anymore." I say, starting to weep over the reality of the situation.

"Don't say that. We all have eachother, and that's all we need for right now."

"I want my parents. My dad would know what to do." I say, picturing their faces in my head and give Brian a slight smile at the thought of them.

"You're strong and smart like your dad. You can get through this. If he can, so can you." Brian says, giving me a hug as I wipe away the tears.


	13. Chapter 13

**I only own my OC's and the plot.**

I stayed up the rest of the night helping Brian plan and helping Laura with the kids. It was 7:30 a.m. when we decided to wake everyone up. I go into Brooke's room to wake her, Brandi, and Dylan up while Brian goes to get Samantha and Ariel as well as Laura and the kids.

"Brooke...wake up." I say, shaking her slightly. She responds and I wake up the other two. We all meet up back in the lobby.

"We're going to need more food." Brian says, realizing that we're running low.

"Samantha and Ariel, stay here and pack up. Brian, Brooke, and I will head to the kitchen to see if there's anything we can use." I say, heading down the hall.

"Do we need any knives or anything weapon like?" Brooke asks as we go down the stairs.

"Nope. Strictly food items." Brian says as we finally reached the kitchen.

"Brooke, grab that cooler." I say, opening the freezer grabbing meat.

"We don't have the need for that." Brian says.

"We can use it to draw away walkers when needed. I know what I'm doing, Brian." I say, offended that he didn't trust my judgement.

"What about these?" Brooke asks holding up cans of items.

"Perfect." Brian says, still searching.

"Are we good to go?" I ask, opening the door to see if we were still clear of walkers.

"Yes" Brian says.

"Yes." Brooke responds right after Brian.

"Let's go." I say, running down the hallway to get back to the room as soon as possible. We get back to the room and everyone is waiting and ready to go.

"Sissy, I'm hungry." Mark says, tugging at my sleeve.

"Me too." Aiden says, looking at Brian.

"Let's go get in the car and we'll get you something to eat, okay?" I say, taking Mark's hand while carrying a backback on my back and cooler in the other.

"Are we going to see mommy and daddy?" Mark asks as we make it out to the car. I sigh and wonder how to explain this to him.

"Buddy, mommy and daddy are on a vacation, remember?" I say, trying to believe it myself.

"When will we be seeing them again?"

"I don't know bud." I say, getting him into the car. I take a deep breath and get in the car.


	14. Chapter 14

**I only own my OC's and plot.**

We drove all day, and we only made it to Tennessee. We needed a break, so we found a farm to run around and let the kids play for a while. Of course we did our routine check of the place to make sure it was clear, and it was safe! It felt good to know that we all had eachother and that we could find a safe spot here and there for a little break. I was sitting under a tree in the shade to help make lunch with Laura and Ariel, while we watched the kids play and Brian and Dylan gather some supplies. Brandi, Brooke, and Samantha were playing with the kids.

"So...I was able to get ahold of my cousins down in Atlanta earlier."

"Are you serious?"

"No, Ash. I'm joking at a time like this-YES I'm serious." Ariel said. Sarcasm was the only way we could lighten the mood so we used it as much as we could, but tried to use it only in appropriate situations.

"What'd they say?" How'd you get through? Phone lines are down for miles to go..." I ask, curious as to how she got through.

"I don't know, but I did somehow. They said to head down there...they're at the military base a few miles outta town. They've locked it up and kept it clear of walkers, only leaving when they need supplies. They said they'll get us some ammo and guns if needed as well as some other gear."

"That's great!" I say, as Brian comes walking by with big amounts of firewood.

"What's great?"

"Ariel's cousins said to head to Atlanta and meet them at the military base. They said they've locked it up and cleared it of walkers. They said they'll supply us with some ammo and guns if needed as well as other gear."

"FINALLY! Some good news..." Brian said, walking over to the truck and putting the firewood in the back.

"LUNCH!" I call out. Everyone comes in and we eat. All we had were sandwiches and fruits with only water to drink.

"We need clean water..." Samantha said, realizing that we were almost out.

"I'll go see what I can find in the house." I say as I get up and walk into the house. Ariel follows. The rule was to never go alone-always have a buddy. I guess I keep "forgetting" that rule.

"There's some cases of bottled water over here." I say, pointing to the counter next to the refrigerator. I open the cupboards to see if there's any pitchers or gallons that we can fill with water too.

"Look..." I said, pulling out a few empty gallons from under the microwave. I go over to the sink to get ready to fill them.

"WAIT-" Ariel said, stopping me.

"What's the big deal?" I say as she turns on the faucet. Nothing comes out.

"You've got to be kidding me?" I say, frustrated. Right as I say that, guts and blood come flowing out of the faucet. Ariel turns it off.

"Some of the walkers must've fallen into the well or something and it backed up the pipes..."

"But in order for that to happen, someone would've had to have been here..." I say, shocked. Ariel and I both start to realize that someone had been here and recently, too.

"We need to find another source of water." Ariel said, grabbing the few cases of water that were on the counter. I grabbed the gallon jugs and we went out to the car.

"So...?" Samantha said.

"This water is contaminated. We only have these cases until we can find a fresh uncontaminated source..." I explain, as we pack up and continue the journey to Atlanta.


End file.
